Athletes will often wear sporting apparel that is specialized to the activities in which they are engaged. Particularly, as many sports carry risk of impact injury to an athlete's groin, it has long been advised that athletes wear an athletic cup to protect their genitals against injury during such activities. Unfortunately, prior constructions that have sought to incorporate systems for holding an athletic cup, and for otherwise supporting the wearer's genitalia, have lacked comfort and have not been widely accepted. For instance, a survey of student athletes conducted by the Society for Pediatric Urology indicated that across all sports, 87.5% of those surveyed reported not wearing athletic cups during practices or games, evidencing that despite the need to protect against injury, athletes are typically not inclined to take adequate protection.
An often-cited reason for not wearing a protective athletic cup is the discomfort that an athlete often feels when wearing such equipment. Particularly, movement and shifting of the athletic cup during athletic movements tends to shift the orientation of the cup with respect to the wearer's genitalia, making it uncomfortable at best, and creating a crushing point-impact injury at worst.
In light of the shortcomings of such prior configurations, there remains a need in the art for an undergarment that is comfortable to wear and that provides sufficient support to the male wearer's genitalia during athletic movements, and that particularly can maintain an athletic cup in its intended position throughout even aggressive athletic movements.